About the Authors

The primary author of the original Street Survival: Tactics for Armed Encounters, published in 1980, was Chuck Remsberg. At that time, he had no idea that he was writing perhaps the best selling law enforcement book of all time. Nor did he have any idea that he was also creating a movement. In the first edition of Street Survival, Chuck brought together stories, tactics, and techniques from officers from all over the country. It was published when there was no internet at a time when law enforcement training, for the most part, was insular; done in-house by self-taught practitioners. Chuck introduced a new way of thinking about training and preparation, mindset and systemic philosophies. He was also sharing tactics that many officers had never even heard of. As we examined the original text in preparation for its much-requested update, we found that much of what Chuck wrote in 1980 is still valid and applicable for today’s police officers.

For this update, we kept the original title of the book while making two slight adjustments: We added the Roman Numeral II and changed the subtitle. Instead of Tactics for Armed Encounters we changed it to Tactics for Deadly Force Encounters. Broadening our focus beyond just an adversary with a gun. We address knives as well as the dangers of a person committed to do great bodily harm with hands, elbows, feet and knees. In that, we spend time discussing danger cues and preattack indicators at length.

Calibre Press tapped Lt. Dan Marcou (ret), an accomplished trainer, tactical officer, and author of several books to spearhead the update and rewrite. Dan’s brilliance is in his forward thinking, his understanding of what is needed for today’s police officer, his street experience, and in his ability to put words on a page that people want to read. He brought to this text the latest tactics and techniques, the evolution, if you will, of the skill sets first introduced by Remsberg over three decades ago.

Assisting him is Lt. Jim Glennon (ret), nationally recognized trainer, Street Survival Seminar lead instructor for over 15 years, award winning columnist, well-regarded expert in communication skills the tactical mindset, and owner of Calibre Press. Jim’s real world experience as a cop for over 29 years and his contacts with tens of thousands of officers in the U.S. and Canada over the past two decades, affords him the opportunity to share his insights throughout the text. In addition, Jim authored a highly regarded and best selling law enforcement book on communication skills (Arresting Communication: Essential Interaction Skills for Law Enforcement) which is an integral aspect of this rewrite.

Calibre Press has been inundated with requests for us to do this rewrite for over a decade. Rarely is there a Street Survival Seminar where someone doesn’t walk up to an instructor and talk about what the original book meant to them. It sells to this day. So doing a rewrite, or rather an update, was a daunting task. Many of the tactics cited in 1980, we found, are as relevant today as they were 40 years ago. Still, there have been many advancements in tactics and technology that needed to be addressed. So what topics to keep and which ones to discard became our first concern. Cleaning revolvers went away, communication skills were added as were more contemporary looking diagrams. Black and white photos of police officers with sideburns extending inches below the earlobe sporting 1970 porn star mustaches needed to go. As did the squad cars with single bubble-gum non-LED lights. More modern pictures were taken and placed strategically in the book. Photos from recent officer involved use of force cases were included as well. But, we reused some of the more iconic photos from the original book in an effort to pay homage to that storied manuscript.

Finally, a special thanks to the men and women who gave their time, opened their hearts and shared their emotions in interviews with the authors. Their stories of real-life deadly encounters bring the theories and tactics addressed in this book to life. Their bravery in the sharing of their stories with us, and ultimately with you, the reader, cannot be overestimated.